4 things to know from this article
- A coaching agreement and a coaching contract are the same thing for this purpose. It's the written version of what you both said yes to.
- The six sections that stop the usual arguments are what's included, sessions, payment and refunds, confidentiality, what coaching isn't, and ending early.
- In the UK, people who buy a service online or over the phone usually get a 14-day right to cancel, so a flat "no refunds" line may not hold.
- Plain English beats legal language. If your client can't explain your contract back to you, it won't help either of you when something goes wrong.
A coaching contract template should cover six things: what's included, how sessions and rescheduling work, payment and refunds, confidentiality and its limits, a line saying coaching isn't therapy or medical, legal or financial advice, and how either of you can end it early. Write each part in words your client understands without a lawyer, then get it checked where you live.
I'm not a lawyer, and nothing on this page is legal advice. What I can give you is plain example wording for each section and the reason it's there. The rules on contracts, refunds and cancelling change from country to country, so once you've written yours, have someone qualified where you live read it before you use it.
Why bother with a coaching agreement at all?
Because the rows come later, and they always come at the worst moment. Somebody pays for three months, comes to four sessions, misses two without telling you, then emails to say they want half their money back.
When I sold masterminds and international retreats, I spoke to nearly everyone who bought before they paid. A good conversation is a great start, but it's also the easiest thing in the world for two people to remember differently three months later.
It isn't your fault that nobody showed you how to write one. Coach training spends a lot of time on questions and listening and hardly any on the boring paperwork. But if you're running a business, you're the one who's responsible for it.
There's another reason too. 82% of the 10,954 coaching websites we scored show no price at all, so for a lot of clients the contract is the first time they see in writing exactly what they're paying and what they get for it. If you want to think about whether your price should be on show earlier, whether to show your coaching prices goes into that properly. Either way, the contract is where it all gets written down.
Meet Rachel (she's made up)
To make the wording real, I'm using a made-up coach. Rachel coaches people who've just been promoted into their first management job. Her package is 12 weeks, eight one-to-one video sessions, and a made-up price of £900, or three payments of £300.
Every example below is written for Rachel. Swap in your own details. Keep the plain words.
What should a coaching contract include?
Here are the sections in the order I'd put them, with Rachel's wording for each one.
1. Who it's between and what's included
Start with who's agreeing to what. Names, the date, and a short description of the package in the same words you'd use on a call.
This agreement is between Rachel Smith (the coach) and [client name] (you). It starts on [date].
You're buying 12 weeks of coaching to help you settle into your first management role. That's 8 one-to-one sessions of 60 minutes on video, weekly for the first four weeks and then every two weeks. Between sessions you can message me on weekdays and I'll reply within one working day.
Not included: writing documents for you, speaking to your employer on your behalf, or any training course.
The "not included" line saves you more trouble than anything else in the whole thing. People fill blanks with what they hoped for.
2. Sessions, missed sessions and rescheduling
This is where the arguments usually start, so be exact about hours and days.
Sessions are booked through my calendar link. If you need to move one, give me at least 24 hours' notice and we'll find another time. If you miss a session without telling me, or cancel with less than 24 hours' notice, that session counts as used.
If I need to move a session, I'll give you as much notice as I can and the session won't count as used.
All 8 sessions need to be used within 16 weeks of the start date. After that, any unused sessions expire.
Notice Rachel gives herself a bit of slack (16 weeks to use 12 weeks of sessions) because people get ill and go on holiday. And notice the rule works both ways. If the coach cancels, the client doesn't lose out, and a contract that only protects you reads like a trap.
3. Payment and refunds
Say how much, when, how, and what happens if a payment's missed. Then say what happens if they want their money back.
The total is £900. You can pay it in full before the first session, or in three monthly payments of £300, with the first paid before the first session.
If a payment is late by more than 7 days, sessions pause until it's paid.
Refunds: if you change your mind within 14 days of signing, tell me in writing and I'll refund you, minus the cost of any sessions you've already had at £112.50 each. After 14 days, payments aren't refundable, but you can pause the coaching once for up to 4 weeks.
Why 14 days? Because in the UK, when a consumer buys a service at a distance, like online or by phone, the law usually gives them 14 days to cancel, counted from the day the contract is made. If they ask for the service to start inside those 14 days, they may have to pay for what they've already had. That same council page says that if the business doesn't tell people about their right to cancel, the cancelling period can be stretched by up to 12 months. That's the UK. The US, Canada and Australia all have their own rules, and I'm not going to pretend I know them all. Check yours.
4. Confidentiality, and where it stops
Clients tell coaches things they haven't told anyone else. They need to know it stays with you, and they also need to know the few times it won't.
What you tell me in our sessions stays between us. I won't share it with anyone, including your employer, without your permission.
There are exceptions. If you tell me something that makes me believe you or someone else is at serious risk of harm, or about a serious crime, I may have to tell the right people. I'll talk to you first wherever I can.
I keep short notes after each session. They're stored securely and deleted 12 months after we finish, unless you ask me to delete them sooner.
The ICF, a coaching industry body, puts this in its own rules. Its code of ethics asks coaches to agree confidentiality up front and to agree in advance what might have to be passed to the authorities, for things like illegal activity or a risk of harm. You don't have to be an ICF member to see the sense in that.
If the client's employer is paying, write down what the employer gets told. Even something as small as "I'll confirm attendance only" stops a very awkward conversation later.
5. Coaching isn't therapy, or medical, legal or financial advice
This one protects your client as much as it protects you. Coaching isn't regulated in the same way therapy or medicine is, and Wikipedia's page on coaching points out there's no required licence for life coaching. So say plainly what you are and what you aren't.
Coaching is about helping you think through your goals and decide what to do next. It isn't therapy or counselling, and it isn't medical, legal or financial advice. I won't diagnose or treat any condition.
If something comes up that needs a different kind of professional, I'll tell you, and we can talk about whether coaching should pause or carry on alongside it.
You're responsible for the decisions you make and what you do as a result of our sessions.
Don't promise results anywhere in the contract. Rachel can't promise someone will be a great manager in 12 weeks, because she isn't the one doing the work.
6. Ending early
Either of you might need to stop. Say how, and what happens with the money.
You can end the coaching at any time by telling me in writing. Payments already made after the 14-day cancelling period aren't refunded, but if you're paying monthly, no further payments will be taken.
I can end the coaching if we're not a good fit, if payments stop, or if you behave in a way that's abusive. If I end it for any reason other than a missed payment, I'll refund any sessions you haven't had.
That last line is the bit that builds trust. It says Rachel won't walk away with someone's money for sessions she never delivered.
7. Signing it
By signing below or replying "I agree" to the email this was attached to, you confirm you've read this agreement and agree to it.
Get it signed before the first session and before you take the first payment. An e-signature tool works, so does a reply to an email. What doesn't work is sending it after you've already started and hoping they read it.
What to leave out of your coaching agreement
Pages of legal language copied from somewhere else. If a client can't read it, they'll just tick the box, and when there's a row they'll say they didn't understand it. They'd have a point.
Promises about results. "You'll double your income" in a contract is asking for trouble.
A blanket "no refunds under any circumstances" line, unless someone qualified has told you it holds where your clients live. In the UK it often won't, for the reason in section 3.
Running a group? Change three things
If you coach groups, the same sections apply, but you need three extra lines. Confidentiality has to cover what other members say, not just what you say. Missed group sessions can't be rescheduled, because the group won't move for one person. And you need a line on behaviour, about respecting other people's time. I learnt that one the hard way, and the story's in how to put a group coaching program together.
What do you do now?
Copy the seven sections above into a document. Swap Rachel's details for yours. Read it out loud and change anything you wouldn't say to a client's face. Then get it checked by someone qualified where you live, and use it with your next client.
If the contract feels hard to write because you're not sure what's actually in your package, that's a sign the offer needs work first, and your pricing is part of that, so the post on coaching prices is the next thing to read. If you'd like to know more about someone before you send a contract at all, a coaching application form does that job. And if you haven't got that first paying client yet, how to get your first life coaching client comes before all of this.
Questions coaches ask about this
Do I need a lawyer to write a coaching contract?
You don't need one to write the first draft, and writing it yourself in plain words is a good idea. But I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice, so have someone qualified where you live check it before you use it. It's a small cost next to one bad refund argument.
Is a coaching agreement legally binding?
It can be, if it's a proper agreement between you and the client and it follows the law where you are. Whether a specific clause holds up depends on your country and sometimes your state. That's exactly why you get it checked locally.
Can a coach have a no-refund policy?
Sometimes, but not always. In the UK, consumers who buy a service online or by phone usually have 14 days to cancel, so a blanket no-refund rule may not hold. Other countries have different rules, so check yours.
What's the difference between a coaching agreement and a coaching contract?
For a small coaching business, nothing much. People use both names for the written terms you and your client agree to.
When should a client sign the coaching contract?
Before the first session and before you take the first payment. If you start coaching first and send the contract afterwards, it's much harder to say they agreed to it.
The figures here come from our own corpus of 10,954 scored coaching websites and 918 mapped coaching markets. How we built and scored it.